It Turns Out The Master's Wife Is Actually Me [GL] - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Xin Yunze was the first to react, letting out a sharp ‘tch’ of disgust. He raised his voice high: “Old man, use those cataract-ridden eyes of yours to look a little closer. We are five separate people, you got that?

Gu Da, holding her jade bottle in one hand, glanced sideways at Xin Yunze. Idiot. To him, all five of us look the same. Right now, the roles we are all playing are this man’s son.

Xin Yunze rolled his eyes. What do you know, Gu Da? I’m provoking him. Provocation do you even know what that word means?

Gu Da didn’t bother responding. Her palm hovered in mid-air as her fingers rapidly wove a series of hand seals.

As the spell took shape, spiritual energy centered on Gu Da began to ripple outward, and her black hair billowed fiercely, driven by the surge of power. In this winding, nine-turn corridor, it was normally perfectly still not a breath of wind, so much so that the tiny withered leaves on the ground lay undisturbed. Under these conditions, Gu Da gave a casual, curling smile. Her hair lashed behind her as if caught in a gale, exuding a sudden, inexplicable air of wickedness.

Cheng Fu suddenly recalled something Chen Qianru had told her during training while introducing Gu Da: Gu Da doesn’t belong to any established sect. She is a rogue cultivator who relies entirely on her own perception and spiritual roots. Because her talent is so high, the academy made an exception to recruit her a few years ago.

Suddenly, a hazy, pale yellow water curtain appeared before Cheng Fu’s eyes.

The curtain was extremely faint, not obstructing her vision, yet it wrapped around her entire body securely. She turned to look at her teammates; they were all encased in the same pale yellow light. A faint scent of wine drifted to her nose, and Cheng Fu felt her spirits lift, her senses becoming noticeably sharper.

It was the Wine Shield.

When Cheng Fu first met Gu Da, the reason she had ended up drunk was that she had rashly broken through the Wine Shield Gu Da used for self-protection. She had been physically overwhelmed by the shield’s counter-attack, and it had taken until the next day to fully sober up.

Chen Qianru’s words from that day lingered in Cheng Fu’s mind:

“She has few desires in life; her only hobby is taking a sip of wine when she’s idle. Thus, Gu Da uses wine as her Dao Heart, practicing the Way of Wine. Because she spent years wandering alone, she knows a bit of everything, but her skills are a mess of different disciplines. So, while her cultivation realm is high, she fills the somewhat peripheral [Balanced Position] in the team.”

Through the soft yellow glow, Cheng Fu saw the old father’s vicious gaze shift from her toward Gu Da, whose skills were now unfolding with grand momentum. He let out a roar, and his feet snapped into a standard charging footwork.

Five-Turn Electric Step.

That was absolutely not a technique a mortal could learn. He was actually a cultivator.

True to its name, this footwork had five turns, each more complex than the last. Each turn incorporated the techniques of the previous ones, requiring the user to have mastered them completely; otherwise, it was easy to trip oneself up in actual combat. It placed high demands on the practitioner.

At this moment, the old father took his first turn, his steps graceful yet lightning-fast. He wasn’t some amateur imitating a master; he looked as if he had integrated these steps into his very soul long ago, finally revealing his divine power at the opportune moment.

His blood-red eyes were filled with hatred as he swung the broom with a sharp, whistling wind.

Clink! Gu Da flicked her fingers, and the jade bottle floated directly in front of the broom, producing a crisp sound of impact.

Cheng Fu’s eyes were fixed on the battle, her gaze almost tangible. The floating trajectory of the jade bottle and the old father’s intent to twist into the second turn of his footwork became clear to her bit by bit. Her four teammates all shifted into offensive stances, looking ready to strike the old father simultaneously.

Cheng Fu’s face remained expressionless, but her eyes were incredibly focused. The blue light on her pale wrist flashed. Her lips moved slightly, sending her voice into her teammates’ ears: Gu Da will pin him down. The other four, stop all offensive actions and stay in position.

Xin Yunze and Liao Zilu, whose swords were already unsheathed, both froze for a second and halted their movements. Chen Qianru also seemed to snap out of a trance, lowering her hand from a spell and turning her gaze toward Cheng Fu.

In a qualified team, members must obey the Commander absolutely.

The old father’s mind was no longer clear, yet he still possessed an almost instinctive premonition of danger. His broom swung in response, tracing a massive circular arc. If the four hadn’t stopped in time, they likely would have been caught off guard. If their state during the attack had been slightly off or their reactions a half-beat slow, they would have had to tank a blow fueled by the old father’s brute strength.

Gu Da was at the middle stage of the Soul Transformation realm. The pressure currently radiating from the old father was not weaker than hers it was arguably even stronger.

Liao Zilu tightened her grip on her light sword, her heart pounding. In the first scene of the inner-demon realm, she had seen the old father’s martial arts as crude and lacked real power, so she had grown contemptuous of the character. When she attacked, she had completely abandoned her defenses, pouring all her spiritual energy into the tip of her sword to strike forward. She hadn’t expected the old father to have eyes in the back of his head, turning to strike back with terrifying force.

He was a character capable of standing off against Gu Da. At this thought, Liao Zilu’s back broke into a cold sweat. I cannot be careless. The Inner-Demon Realm was an experience equivalent to a trial realm; it was entirely different from usual sparring practices. It was fraught with peril and allowed no room for negligence.

The old father’s blind backswing missed, and he swung the broom toward Gu Da again. Gu Da was radiating the strongest pressure and was the highest-ranked among the five. Though his mind was foggy, the old father’s basic strategy remained. He understood the concept of picking them off one by one, but he preferred the strategy of “capturing the king to catch the rebels.”

And he had the strength to capture the king.

The old father pulled his lips back in a grim smile. You must be the great immortal who taught my son the doppelgänger art, right? A middle-stage Soul Transformation practitioner hiding among these brats did you really think I wouldn’t be able to tell?

He swung his broom faster and faster until it began to spin at high speed, forming a high-velocity vortex. The vortex slowly left the old father’s hands, floating into the air with a howling wind. In an instant, all surrounding objects were drawn toward it. Even Gu Da’s jade bottle wobbled, tilting bit by bit toward the vortex, seemingly unable to resist.

Gu Da merely scoffed, the scent of wine around her growing even more potent. She had yet to take a hit from the old father; the pale yellow Wine Shield around her remained perfectly intact. Now, the color of her shield grew deeper and more intense. The wine began to pour from the jade bottle in a steady stream, being drawn slowly into the broom vortex.

The old father no longer held a weapon. He curled his fingers into claws, his nails suddenly lengthening. The tips of his nails glowed with a fierce red light as he lunged ruthlessly toward Gu Da’s shoulders.

Gu Da stood her ground and did not move.

Reflected in Cheng Fu’s eyes was the old father, now stepping into the second turn of his Electric Step. He had already closed in on Gu Da’s side, the crimson in his eyes so heavy it looked like it would drip blood in the next second.

Her tone was cold and steady as she issued her command again: No need to rescue Gu Da. Zilu, strike your light sword at his armpit. Qianru, cast a body-strengthening spell on Gu Da. Xin Yunze, ignore your own defense and strike his temple directly.

The [Commander] issued orders using a specialized transmission technique within the team. Transmitted through the wristbands, it allowed the commander’s will to be conveyed instantly.

Xin Yunze’s sword momentum was sharp as he attacked the old father as directed, but he shouted harshly: Why aren’t we rescuing Gu Da? The Wine Shield can only block attacks from those at a lower realm than her! If you don’t save her, she’s going to take this hit full-on!

As he spoke, his sword-light flashed like a brilliant, shimmering comet. Carrying his deepest understanding of the sword, it slashed straight toward the old father’s temple.

The moment the blinding sword-light struck the old father’s head, the father’s claw-like fingers also sank deeply into both of Gu Da’s shoulders. The amber-colored wine curtain shattered instantly, splashing into droplets.

Xin Yunze was the Main Combat Position. His strikes had the highest attack power and exceptionally sharp sword-qi. Even for someone as high-level as the old father, this strike wouldn’t be easy to tank.

Yet, the old father’s head remained completely unharmed.

Gu Da’s shoulders were stained with blood, but she tilted her head to look at the old father. A strange smile hung on her face, growing wider and more malicious by the second.

What are you looking at me for?

The old father, splashed with pale yellow wine, showed a moment of bewilderment. Then, his entire body went rigid, and he collapsed to the ground with a loud boom, sending dust flying.

Lying on the ground, the old father’s cheeks were flushed red, and dark yellow bile leaked from the corners of his mouth. His round eyeballs looked as if they were about to fall out entirely. He stiffly raised his hands and began to scratch himself frantically.

His nails were long, still stained with the flesh and blood from Gu Da’s shoulders. Now, red light flowed continuously from his fingers—his meridians were clearly still transmitting spiritual energy, all of it gathering at the tips of his nails.

With violent spiritual energy poured into his sharp nails, the old father’s scratching didn’t stop, though the expression on his face grew more desperate. His lips turned black, continuously leaking sticky bile.

The yellow silk robes were shredded into rags. The skin on his body was clawed into a mangled mess by his own hands, mottled with blood. A thin layer of shredded meat began to accumulate on the smooth white stone floor.

Xin Yunze’s attack hadn’t harmed the old father in the slightest. But the fact that he was currently paralyzed proved that the trait of hitting the temple to cause rigidity still existed.

Cheng Fu’s brows relaxed slightly as she withdrew her gaze from the battlefield.

The wine curtain covering Gu Da wasn’t just the [Wine Shield] she had cast on herself at the beginning; it was the shield supplemented by the skill [Drinking Bout]. Once the [Drinking Bout] skill is released, a layer of wine is splashed onto both parties. When Gu Da was hit and the wine curtain shattered, the splashing wine was actually the trigger for the bout.

This skill was essentially a gamble between two cultivators. After the wine splashes on both, Gu Da’s jade bottle assesses the alcohol tolerance of both parties. It then forcibly imposes a [Drunken Frenzy] state on the party with the lower tolerance.

This state forces the cultivator’s strongest attack within the next fifteen minutes to be redirected onto themselves. For the duration of a cup of tea, the cultivator who lost the bout will be continuously hit by the feedback of their own attacks.

Within those fifteen minutes, the old father’s most vicious attack on Gu Da had been that claw-strike. Now, it was all being reflected back onto him, scratching his own body until not a single piece of healthy flesh remained.

The five people present were still playing the role of the son, so their attacks on the father were ineffective. Now that the old father had scratched himself half-to-death with his own hands, it counted as a different kind of successful attack.